MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has suspended the operations of Ore Asia Mining and Development Corp., the only iron-producing mine in the country, in line with its drive against irresponsible mining.
DENR Undersecretary Leo Jasareno, head of the mining audit team, said mid-scale miner Ore Asia failed to secure the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 certification for Environmental Management System (EMS).
Failure of companies to secure or maintain ISO 14001 certification will result in the suspension of the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) and non-issuance of ore transport permit (OTP).
“There were also complaints of siltation of the river, which is a tributary of the Sibul Spring in Bulacan,” Jasareno said.
“The ore permits allow the transport of the ore from the mine to the market. If you withdraw the OTP, hauling would also stop,” he added.
Last year, Ore Asia’s mine located in Doña Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan produced about 40,000 tons of iron.
Established in 1996, the ISO 14001 EMS standard is a systematic framework to manage the immediate and long term environmental impacts of an organization’s products, services and processes.
Former DENR chief Ramon Paje signed Administrative Order 2015-07 mandating all mining contractors to secure ISO 14001 certification that shows mining operations pass the international standard and have a good EMS.
Meanwhile, Environment Secretary Gina Lopez plans to create a separate website which will post the results of the agency’s audit of all suspended and existing mines.
“All audit findings will be made public. We want everything to be transparent,” Lopez said.
To date, the DENR has suspended seven mining companies already and is on track to finish the audit of all 42 metallic mines within the month.